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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Southern California:A Natural Laboratory
forEarthquake Science
SCEC annual meeting, 2000
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Motivations• Economic• Geologic• Seismic• Historic• Knowledgeable and interested public & Media• Data availability• Problem definition• Export of know-how
• The beach
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Geologic• Complex Plate Boundary deformation zone
on land• Continental breakup• Varied tectonic regimes, major geologic
transitions• Good geologic exposure, well mapped• Numerous sedimentary basins• All types of faulting, including mature fault
zones (SAF) and immature ones
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
We have faults
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Seismic• Region of active seismicity (300+ active faults
mapped)• Good instrumental coverage • Good history (450,000 event catalog, 65 year
coverage)• Good paleoseismic record• Numerous well mapped surface breaking
events• 30,000 well-constrained focal mechanisms• High quality digital data• Good access (data centers)
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
We have earthquakes
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
We have data
• Seismic (include Strong Motions)
• Geodetic (GPS)
• Geologic (177 trenches so far)
• InSAR
• Strain, lidar, remote sensing, etc.
• Socio-economic
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Economic Motivation
• 20 million people
• 7th economy in the world
• Major harbors, airports, freeways, lifelines, etc
• Major heavy and light industry
• Variety of building types
• More than hazards….there is Risk
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Earthquake Risk in Southern California
20 Million people +
7th largest economy +
Active plate boundary +
Over 300 active faults =
_____________________________
Almost half the national earthquake risk,
with 25% in Los Angeles County alone...
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Larger Earthquakes1932–1997
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Does this Natural laboratory have the right size?
• Outer scale comparable to large earthquake fault dimension
• Outreach works well with a self-contained community
• Knowledgeable and interested public & media– Cultural, socio-economic needs
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Simulations of San Andreas Ruptures
(Olsen, 2000)
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Scientific Critical Mass
• 10 Institutions of higher learning
• Research, Students
• 150 scientists work at SCEC
• USGS, CDMG, NASA presence
• Excellent computing and communication infrastructure
• Collaborators worldwide
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER
Exporting know-how
• Model for Outreach
• Model of instrumentation
• Model for open data
• Model for sharing instruments
